FORT LORAMIE – The Tri-Village boys basketball team traveled to Fort Loramie Saturday night for a very closely played boys basketball game and came up just short, losing 37-32.
In the first quarter Tri-Village’s Trace Couch started the game off with a 2-point basket to start the game. Fort Loramie tied the game up with two free throws by Evan Berning.
Then the game started to go to Tri-Village. The Patriots regained the lead and went up by 7 with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter. However, Fort Loramie started to score and cut its deficit to 4 by the end of the quarter, 13-9.
Fort Loramie’s Tyler Siegel scored the first two points of the second quarter, decreasing Tri-Village’s lead by only 2. Tri-Village’s Gavin Richards answered back with a 3-pointer, putting Loramie down by 5 again.
At the 5:44 left to play mark Fort Loramie was down by 7 and 8 points at the 2:05 mark. However, the home team again started to make a comeback and finished the second quarter down by only 2. The score going into half was 21-19 in favor of Tri-Village.
Fort Loramie scored first in the third quarter, and Tri-Village’s lead was down to 1 from a free throw basket. However, the Patriots were able to remain ahead and went back up by 3 with two free throws with 6:33 remaining in the third.
Fort Loramie’s Berning made a game-tying 3-pointer with 5:39 left in the quarter. Tri-Village regained the lead less than 30 seconds later with a pair of free throws, but Loramie came back and tied the game once more with a basket by Austin Siegel.
Loramie took the lead with a basket by Dillon Braun before Couch answered back to tie the game back up. Richards regained the lead for Tri-Village with a basket, giving the Patriots a 29-27 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Fort Loramie briefly tied the game at 29-all in the fourth quarter before Tri-Village scored and went back up by 3 with 5:25 remaining.
Fort Loramie managed to pull back within 1 point with 3:46 remaining and took the lead with two free throws by Berning with 1:45 left. Fort Loramie extended its lead down the stretch with free throws by Nick Brandewie and Braun, giving Loramie a 37-32 win.
Tri-Village finished the regular season with a 15-7 overall record. The Patriots will begin Ohio High School Athletic Association tournament play against Emmanuel Christian at 11 a.m. Saturday at Troy.
Richards led Tri-Village with 17 points while Couch scored 14 and Jared Buckley scored 1.
The leading scorer for Fort Loramie was Berning with 13 points. Eli Rosengarten scored 9 points, Braun scored 6 points, Austin Siegel scored 4 points, Tyler Siegel scored 3 points, and Brandewie scored 2 points.